The real Bodhichitta is neither individualistic nor altruistic. In todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte and#8220;Bodhicitta Arisingand#8221; Sangharakshita talks with us about Stream Entry, a radical transformation in the nature of Going for Refuge, and the four levels of the arising of the Bodhichitta.
This is an excerpt from the talk and#8220;Looking Ahead a Little Wayand#8221; by Sangharakshita in 1999.
[music] Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. Thank you, and happy listening. Let us go back for a moment to the four levels of going for refuge. Order members go for refuge effectively, that is, they're making a wholehearted effort to achieve real going for refuge. In other words, to achieve stream entry. When that happens, there takes place a radical transformation in the nature of the going for refuge. The going for refuge ceases to be my going for refuge, I, within single inverted numbers, cease going for refuge. Something else takes over, at least to an extent. In Mahaljana terms, this something is something else is the real bodhicitta. There are four levels of the arising of the bodhicitta, corresponding to the four levels of going for refuge. In the first place, there's an ethnic or cultural arising. This is not really an arising at all. It consists in the formal acceptance of the bodhisattva ideal, simply as part of one's Mahaljana Buddhist cultural heritage. Secondly, there's provisional arising of the bodhicitta. This occurs when one tries to act in accordance with the bodhisattva ideal, led to say, to act altruistically, even if only very intermittently. And in thirdly, there's the effective arising. Here one is wholeheartedly committed to acting in accordance with the bodhisattva ideal, and makes a serious effort to practice the six part of mytas. But there's still the possibility of backsliding. One may still even give up the bodhicitta altogether. Fourthly, there's the real arising of the bodhicitta. Here one has achieved at least a degree of real wisdom and is therefore actually practicing this and the other part of mytas as part of mytas. One practice of them is, therefore, a transcendental practice, and there's no possibility of falling back. As you know, I have spoken of the arising of the bodhicitta as the altruistic dimension of going for refuge. Strictly speaking, this applies only to the first three levels of the arising. In the case of the real arising, the distinction between self and others has begun to be seriously eroded. The real bodhicitta is therefore neither individualistic nor altruistic. That is, therefore, no question of the arising of the real bodhicitta being my arising. I do not develop the real bodhicitta. I am not a bodhisattva. Any more than it is I who really go for refuge, or any more than it is I who attain stream entry. In both cases, what we can only describe as a non-eguristic stream of spiritual energy and perhaps even consciousness has begun to take over. The hinyana does not have much to say about this. Perhaps the bodhicitta himself did not have much to say about it. Perhaps he was contained simply to demonstrate it in his life. But the mahayana has a great deal to say about it. The mahayana sutras have a great deal to say about it, especially in their teaching about the bodhisattva ideal. I am not going to go into all that now. I touched upon it elsewhere. For instance, in my 1967 or 1968 lectures on the bodhisattva ideal, which will soon be appearing in book form. I just want to focus on what happens when a number of people achieve this non-eguristic going for refuge, this non-eguristic arising of the bodhicitta. When that stream of non-eguristic spiritual energy starts manifesting through a number of people simultaneously. Those people will be literally hands or arms, even faces of a lokitesvara. There will be no question of any conflict between them. They will function in perfect harmony. They will be something from which we have no expression in English. It will be a true sangha. It will be an arya-sanga. And the western Buddhist order, tralokya-malsanga, the tralokya-bodhama-sanga has a future only to the extent that it is such a sangha, or to the extent that it contains such a sangha as its nucleus. It is therefore imperative that each and every one of you should seek to transform your effective going for refuge into a real going for refuge, to seek to retain stream entry or the arising of the real bodhicitta. It is up to you. The future of the order of the movement is in your hands. I need hardly say how much the world needs the dharma. Needs such an order, such a movement, as ours. I have done what I can. I have started the order, started the movement. As I have already stated, next year I shall be handing on the headship of the order. I shall then have no formal responsibilities. This does not mean I shall be going out of circulation. I shall still be happy, more than happy, to see people. And no doubt I will be putting in appearance at centers from time to time, as the mood takes me. And of course, I shall be doing, I hope, some writing. Whether I should be at the next convention, I cannot say. In any case, I am very happy indeed to be at this convention. In fact, happy to be attending all three conventions. I am happy to have had this opportunity of sharing with you some of my thoughts. Happy to have had the opportunity of looking ahead a little way. We hope you enjoyed today's dharma bite. Please help us keep this free. Make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donnie. And thank you. [BLANK_AUDIO]
